Human Development Colloquium - Melanie Killen
Human Development Colloquium - Melanie Killen
Hear from Melanie Killen (HDQM) in this installment of the Human Development Colloquium Series. Lunch begins at 12:00 PM (bring your own lunch; snacks provided) and talks begin at 12:30 PM.
The Social Cognitive Complexity of Making Decisions about Peer Inclusion and Exclusion
Abstract: Developmental science research over the past two decades has revealed the social-cognitive complexity of making decisions about inclusion and exclusion of peers in social group contexts. What makes these decisions complex is the weighing of concerns about fairness and just treatment of others in the context of group norms and dynamics. Social exclusion from groups at school remains pervasive, contributing to stress and social withdrawal. While children value fairness and equality, they often justify social exclusion due to emerging awareness of group dynamics. We assert that the apparent contradiction of valuing fairness and partaking in exclusionary activities is part of the expectation of a group mind, an assumption that the group supports exclusion, which makes it costly to challenge even unfair group norms, due to concerns about rejection. In this talk, I will discuss research findings that provided the basis for a school intervention program, along with audio recorded clips from children’s social and moral reasoning-in-action.
Bio: Dr. Melanie Killen is Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, Professor of Psychology (Affiliate), and the Director of the Social and Moral Development Lab at the University of Maryland. She is the Editor of the Handbook of Moral Development (2008, 2014, 2022, an elected member of the National Academy of Education, and has over 280 publications. Commissioned by Anderson Cooper at CNN AC360, Dr. Killen and her team conducted a study on children’s racial bias for a set of stories aired on CNN AC360, “Kids on Race: The Hidden Picture” in April 2012, which won an Emmy Award for Outstanding News and Analysis. Funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes for Child Health and Human Development, Dr. Killen and her lab studies children’s and adolescents’ social cognition and moral reasoning, social exclusion and inclusion, morality and theory of mind, intergroup attitudes and relationships, origins of bias, conceptions of social inequalities, and school-based programs designed to promote inclusive classrooms.